The National Youth Authority (NYA) in the Upper West Region has organized an inter-community cultural festival for four communities in the Wa Municipality to use their rich culture to propagate peace messages to the youth.

Nayiri, Charia, Fongu and Sokpayiri participated in the festival which was held at the forecourt of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) in Wa.

The festival, which sought to instill social cohesion and peace among the community’s youth using culture as a tool, was sponsored by the United Nations Human Security program.

The issue of chieftaincy and land disputes which are prevalent in the four communities did not only affect the development of the Wa Municipality but also created a situation where folks did not talk among themselves.

The festival started with a symposium on peace during which a video documentary on electoral violence in Freetown was shown.

Participants also went on peace walk through the principal streets of the Municipality and also undertook a cleanup exercise around the Wa Regional Hospital before they converged at the forecourt of the RCC to climax the festival.

Mr. Sulemana Mumuni, the Regional Director for the NYA, said the people of the Wa Municipality and Ghana in general had a rich culture but recent trends showed that the culture was becoming endangered.

He said the Upper West Region was the poorest Region in the country and therefore the youth should channel their energy into productive ventures that could lead to the development of the region.

He urged them not to allow themselves to be used as instruments for violence before, during and after the elections.